Behind the Scenes

The new norm - the story behind the fabric mask.

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Hi guys, it has been a while!

If you are reading this, you probably have noticed that the website got a new look in April. We are always changing things around on the website, but this time is a total new layout and look. This is the first time we have renewed our website since we have created it back in 2013! The new website has clean and clear layout, with bigger and bolder images. Hope you had a chance to click around, and enjoy the new look.

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As all of us are equally affected by Covid-19, we had to change gears around here as well.
In Japan, we adopted to mask wearing at a very early stage, then quickly followed was a disposable mask shortage. We decided to make fabric masks out of the beautiful hand dyed fabric. We were gifted fabric from our friend who works at a natural, handmade dye studio in Kyoto. For a very long time, we had no idea what to do with the beautiful precious fabric, we finally found the very suitable application for it as a fabric mask!

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Mitsuru Kogei only uses natural resources for dye process. Dye ingredients are from persimmon fruit, indigo, iron, other tree leaves and, field grass. They use local mountain spring water, and the wash process happens in the river next to the studio. The fabric will then hang to dry, let the sunshine do its job for drying and the color reaction process. We had the pleasure to visit their studio in Ohara, Kyoto back in 2018, we were in awe of their process, and quickly fell in love with the fabric.

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We feel so grateful for the opportunity to share this precious fabric with you, and gave it a purpose in such meaningful way. We believe wearing a mask is not only for you, but for others around you. Kindness is important more now than ever in this strange time.

Beautiful shades of natural dye colors. Gift of nature!

Beautiful shades of natural dye colors. Gift of nature!

Thank you for reading our blog, take care of each other, and be safe!

Wrap Up of Unique LA {part. 01.}

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As we have mentioned this before, we had our first Unique LA show last weekend. Thank you so much for those came out and stopped by at our booth. It was great to see familiar faces as well as meeting new friends. 

​It was such a action-packed weekend, so we decided to have 2 posts dedicated to Unique LA spring show. So, here's part 1 of 2. We want to share how we made our booth and our inspiration behind it. 

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​Yup. Sawdust. We started from making our frames for the backdrop wall. We chose very lightweight wood sticks, for the easy transfer and easy loading to the event. 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Our next step was to stretch the canvas over the frame. Large canvas is a bit difficult to stretch, but the principle is still the same; slowly but surely. Just need to be patient and make sure there is no any wrinkles. We chose canvas cloth as back drop for its neutral look and feel. It is much lighter weight than wood panels, but still very versatile. We made our panels to be easy to store, for use in the future. For this show, we kept it simple so our product will stand out against the wall. 

 
 
 
 
 
 

Voilà! Walls are up. We always do mock-table/mock-booth for each events. Practice makes it perfect, right?​

​Copper pipes! We chose copper pipes not only because it is beautiful material, but also it ties together with our products. Just like the copper rivets on our market tote, we wanted the material to be a good accent for the booth. 

 
 
 
 

​We then put the hooks and shelves up, and this was pretty much the final shape of our booth. And yes, 1.61 products are made in cat-friendly environment.

 
 

​The final detail, signage. All hand painted by us, just like our products! 

 
 

For the part 2 of Unique LA Wrap Up, we will show you the pictures from the event. Stay tuned!​

 

Behind the Scenes.

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​Did you check out our Spring/Summer 2013 Look Book yet?

This was our first Look Book shoot.  We had lots of trial and error, but also had fun dressing up our products with props and greenery.​

For the first Look Book, our theme was to have simple and classic look. ​ Paired up with everyday carry goods; keys, pens, notebooks and such (you know the things you will find in bottom of your bag!) We also wanted to suggest using the case as a pouch for little special things like, tobacco pipes, jewelry, and accessories.  The best way to use our goods is to carry it everyday, so we wanted to show the versatility of the case. They are perfect for your beloved electronic devices, but also great to declutter your bag.  When you bring the case everywhere, you'll see the story that will be created into the leather, it becomes something sentimental in your daily life. 

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